Hey Brenda! King Arthur question

Mik

I have all the stuff to make great pizzas tonight - except crust. My delivery service has shorted me pizza crusts two weeks in a row now and my Kroger delivery yesterday did too! Don't have any yeast.

But I do have KA self rising flour - have you ever tried their St Louis style recipe?

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/st-louis-style-pizza-recipe

brenda

@Mik
Wow! I've never tried that recipe. For a thin crust, I think it could be great. I've learned that the cracker crusts often rely on baking powder, not yeast.

Give it a go! I may do the same next weekend.

King Arthur seldom disappoints. Now you have me curious about this recipe.

Mik

Me too. I like very thin crust. Either that or a thick, crispy-edge crust like Detroit-style (Jet's 8 corner pizza - awesome).

brenda

@Mik

For another time, when you can get some semolina:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/ultra-thin-pizza-crust-recipe

brenda

Speaking of semolina, we've been really enjoying this recipe:
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/sicilian-pizza-recipe/

This makes a thicker crust, one that gets that crunchy bottom crust and edge. It also makes a large pan, a half sheet pan, full of goodness. It reheats the next day very well for a quick lunch for hubby, maybe for me. Handy!

Mik

I have semolina, Bob's Red Mill. No yeast!

Aqua Letifer

Did someone say yeast??

xenon

Mik

The world turned upside down.

xenon

I've been using long rise / overnight recipes to preserve that precious precious yeast.

Also - I've been eating too much bread. (Actually. I've resolved to cut back to only pizza)

Mik

I chickened out and bought dough from Dewey's where The Princess used to work.

Optimistic

Unlike pretty much everywhere else on the internet, the comments section at KAF is actually really helpful The people who monitor those boards do a great job of responding to questions raised and troubleshooting issues.

I've had my eye on this recipe for a few months. I love NY style thin pizza if I buy it, but if I'm baking it, I like the thicker crust:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/crispy-cheesy-pan-pizza-recipe

xenon

@Optimistic said in Hey Brenda! King Arthur question:

Unlike pretty much everywhere else on the internet, the comments section at KAF is actually really helpful The people who monitor those boards do a great job of responding to questions raised and troubleshooting issues.

I've had my eye on this recipe for a few months. I love NY style thin pizza if I buy it, but if I'm baking it, I like the thicker crust:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/crispy-cheesy-pan-pizza-recipe

Thanks for sharing that, Optimistic. I'm going to try to repurpose one of my pizzas to this method. Looks so good.

Optimistic

Brenda, xenon, and others that bake. . .do you weigh your flour? I don't, and am wondering if I need to start doing so. Maybe that contributes to my crappy bread-making endeavors of late.

xenon

Game changer for me. Might be because some of my flour was sitting around for a while and packed quite tight.

My first foray into bread making a few weeks ago was a disaster. Got a digital scale from amazon for about $12.

Game changer.

I tested some of my flour weight on the scale after to confirm. I was way off. YMMV

Mik

Yeah, weighing is very important in baking. It's chemistry.

xenon

Another big benefit has been that you can convert recipes you like into ratios - and scale them up and down with accuracy once you have a scale.

I had a recipe for 5 pizza dough balls. I only wanted 3. Multiple all the weights by 3/5.

brenda

@Optimistic
Opti, for bread, yes, weigh your flour until you get really comfortable making a certain recipe. The first several times I make a new recipe, I always weigh the flour. My challah bread is one I've made so many times, I can tell just by feel whether it needs more flour or liquid. My frequent pizza dough is the same way, I just measure and adjust. With varying humidity and temp, a given recipe will need tweaking to get the desired texture. On a cold winter day, I just know I'll have to add a bit more liquid. On a humid day, probably not.

Something that new bakers sometimes find difficult to manage is the hydration level for the dough, especially if it's meant to be a wet dough, actually sticky. Don't be afraid of sticky dough. Just wet or oil your hands, or use a bench knife to move it around. A good high hydration will help you get a nice moist bread. The oven never adds moisture to your bread. LOL. You have to make sure it's moist before you bake it, and that often means a sticky dough. People keep adding more flour to make it easier to handle, and then they're disappointed with dry bread.
Sticky is good!

Jolly

How about a pizza crust made with beer?

Optimistic

@Jolly Sounds delicious!

Ok, that´s it then, I´m sold on the scale. Most of my baking is cakes and cookies type-stuff, and I mostly stick to my favorite recipes. Working without a scale has not been an issue before. I´m also not really sure why I was able to have success with yeast dough years ago but lately not--but xenon, now I´m wondering if it´s because my baking ingredients are a bit on the older side, and maybe my flour has settled.

Ok, what about about a thermometer to measure water temps for the dough? Necessary?

The New Coffee Room

Hey Brenda! King Arthur question